# When Finder Won't Sync Your iPod

> What to try when a classic iPod doesn't appear in Finder on your Mac, won't sync, is missing songs, or asks to be restored, and another way to sync it.

Since iTunes was retired, macOS syncs iPods in Finder. When that goes wrong, try these steps in order. They work for
every click-wheel iPod, whichever app you sync with.

## The iPod doesn't appear

1. **Check the cable.** Many 30-pin cables only charge. If the iPod charges but your Mac never sees it, try a cable you
   know carries data. For a Mac with only USB-C ports, use a USB-C to 30-pin cable rather than a chain of adapters; see
   [Cables](https://classictunes.app/docs/connecting#cables).
2. **Plug it straight into the Mac**, not into a hub, keyboard or monitor.
3. **Look in the right place.** iPods appear in Finder's sidebar under **Locations**. If there's no Locations section,
   choose **Finder › Settings**, click **Sidebar**, and turn on **CDs, DVDs and iOS Devices**.
4. **Restart the iPod.** On an iPod with a click wheel, slide the Hold switch on and off, then press and hold
   **Menu** and the center button for about eight seconds, until the Apple logo appears. (On the first three
   generations, hold **Menu** and **Play/Pause**.)
5. **Try disk mode.** Restart the iPod as above, and as soon as the Apple logo appears, press and hold the center
   button and **Play/Pause** until "Disk Mode" appears (on the first three generations, **Previous** and **Next**). Then
   connect it.

If your Mac still doesn't see it, the iPod's disk may be failing: aging hard drives are the most common iPod fault.
ClassicTunes' [iPod Diagnostics](https://classictunes.app/docs/ipod-tools#run-diagnostics) checks the disk, the database and the battery and
says what it finds.

## The sync fails or stops partway

- Quit the Music app and any other app that might be using the iPod, then eject the iPod, unplug it and try again.
- Make sure the iPod has enough free space for what you've chosen.
- A database left damaged by an interrupted sync can make every sync after it fail. Copying your music off first (see
  below) keeps it safe whatever happens next.

## Songs are missing from the iPod

- **Apple Music songs** can't go on an iPod; they're skipped. See
  [Apple Music songs and your iPod](https://classictunes.app/docs/apple-music-on-ipod).
- Finder only syncs songs that are in the **Music app**, and only in formats it plays: FLAC and Ogg files are left off.
- Songs in the cloud that haven't been downloaded can't be copied.

## Finder asks to restore the iPod

Restoring erases everything on the iPod. If the iPod has music that isn't on your Mac any more,
[copy it to your Mac](https://classictunes.app/docs/copy-music-from-ipod) before you restore.

## Another way: sync without Finder

ClassicTunes syncs iPods without Finder or the Music app: it reads and writes the iPod's own database, so the iPod only
needs to show up as a disk. It converts formats Finder can't, shows each change before it happens with
[Preview Sync](https://classictunes.app/docs/preview-sync), and offers to save a [snapshot](https://classictunes.app/docs/snapshots) of the iPod before its first sync.
See [Syncing an iPod on a Mac in 2026](https://classictunes.app/docs/ipod-on-a-mac) for every option, and
[Troubleshooting](https://classictunes.app/docs/troubleshooting) for problems in ClassicTunes itself.